I have a wood sided garage and will be replacing the wood with vinyl. When I was removing the old siding I found that the siding extended up beyond the sofit which makes this very difficult to remove. I also need to know if I should replace the stuff behind the siding - some of it has holes from mice, etc. If so, what should I replace it with?

You'll need a substrate to attach the vinyl siding to, which means that you're going to have to reside the garage BEFORE you reside it. Why not save yourself some time and money and just do it right the first time with a good quality siding and leave the vinyl in the crrap pile where it belongs?

Vinyl siding IS NOT water proof, nor is it water tight. It causes more damage than it prevents, and it looks good until it is taken out of the box and installed on your home, at which point it looks like utter and complete garbage. It will affect the value of your home to the negative side of things as well. It fades as badly and quickly as paint and offers little protection that other more traditional and better quality sidings offer.

I'm a bigger fan of cement siding and materials with some actual structure, but I would always suggest that wood be stripped and properly primed and painted. Newer paints are very good and you can get 20 years out of a good paint job. Vinyl will start getting brittle and faded at 20 years and need replacement by 30... just like the windows frame counterparts.

I strongly disagree with Spruce's take on vinyl siding; perhaps he's way behind the times & thinking of vinyl and aluminum siding issues as experienced in the previous century; clearly, vinyl applications have vastly improved in recent years, to the point that nearly one half the homes in the U.S. and Canada these days are sided with vinyl.

You'd have to be living on another planet not to recognize the numbers of vinyl-sided homes and appurtenant structures that have vinyl; the reasons have to do with improved products that look great, that will last for decades, and have good workmanship in application.

You must choose a contractor carefully after examining their work on past projects by going to your town hall, examining the recent building permits issued for siding jobs and checking out the contractors who did the work.

I in no way represent or advocate for the vinyl siding industry; I also like plastic shingles, fiber cement plank (Hardie Plank), aluminum siding and real wood.

Vinyl has more bang for the buck and usually costs less to install at approximately $200 per square installed (square= 100 sq.ft.) for the quality products like Heartland Cedar Max, RoyalDuraPlank, Norandex Polar Wall or ABTCo TimberCrest; the first two have a thickness of .05 inches; some are foam-backed; avoid vinyl less than .04" thick; insist that "house wrap" be installed before the siding is put on.

A thicker vinyl that has longer lengths will minimize seams and improve appearance; any of the above mentioned will resist color fade or cracking & will hold up in hot and cold weather without leaking.

And you are certainly entitled to do that, however, just because half the homes, as you wrongly suggest, are covered with it, doesn't make it a good product. That is like saying that a manufactured home is better quality than stick built, nothing could be further from the truth!

I have been in this industry a very long time and have worked with many forms of exterior wall covering and vinyl is about as low on the chain of options as you can get. People choose it because it is CHEAP, not because it is a superior product. What people don't realize is the destruction and devaluation to their property that is being done by installing this garbage.

I think we need a time out and a cease fire, because we are drifting away from the question.

BTW:
Spruce - you are right.
Molly - there will never be a point when all the homes in North America will be covered with vinyl sidings. Out in the west, we use stucco, not siding. That's at least 20% of the homes in the country.

I don't know what accounts for the regional favorits in siding. I can state that in the Chicago area, my former home for over 60 years, plastic was very popular, both on new construction and re-siding.

I would agree with Molly Pitcher that the installer of plastic makes all the difference in the world, but then, good craftmanship is desireable with any product. I have seen plastic bow outward just because the "carpenter' was over tightening the nails in the mounting slots. Plastic expandes greatly and tightened nails results in bowing.

If you opt for plastic, make sure you buy an extra square of matching siding to assure the ability to repair damage. Plastic gets very brittle in cold climates and a flying rock from a snow blower results in a hole ( just ask my brother).

Regardless of the type of siding, a good rainscreen underneath is advisable. Hardi-Plank cement board type siding has had problems here on the harse Oregon Coast where it has been installed in direct contact with the Tyvek. It takes really good construction to hold up to 100mph wind driven rain.

Were I custom building a house, I would probably opt for Hardi-Plank fastened to verticle battens to allow it to vent and air out from the back side. Should water ever breech the exterior, it would still have a harmless way out, without saturating the sheathing.

As a former painting contractor, I can state that I painted many aluminum and vinyl sided homes in later years. Both accept acylics paints well. Since the siding itself is absolutely water impermeable, future peeling is not a problem if the surface was cleaned properly. Also, today's acrylic paints are highly fade resistant.

One caveat about painting over vinyl: NEVER paint it a darker shade than the original color. As stated, vinyl expands greatly and greater heat absorbtion can cause a disaster of warpage.

There are also documented cases where new reflective windows were installed on homes neighboring homes with vinyl siding. Warpage showing the movement of the reflected arcing sun was evident on the vinyl sided home.

Just a few points to consider. I don't think I have contradicted Spruce's concerns. Just a reality check on what to expect from these types of siding.